The \u3ci\u3eAgdal\u3c/i\u3e System or the Art of Managing Spatio‐Temporality of Forage Resources and Risks in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco (original) (raw)
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Herder mental stocking rate in the rangeland regions of northern China
In 2002, the Chinese government issued the “balancing animals and grass” policy to control the degradation problem of northern China, but these programs have been widely resisted by herders. We proposed that herder had their mental stocking rate, which refers to the number of animals that the herders think they can place or maintain on a piece of rangeland over a specified period of time. It is the mental stocking rate that guides herder on how to adjust livestock-breeding practices. This study surveyed herder opinion of grass-animal balance in the meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe regions of northern China. Most herders admitted that they bred more livestock than ten years ago, whereas they insisted that there was no overstocking in their rangelands and more than half even thought that their rangelands could still carry more livestock when the policy was implemented. Most herders hold that they took into account the carrying capacity of rangelands when making decision...
Monitoring of Rehabilitation of Degraded Rangelands
2020
The Algerian steppe covers an area of about 20 million ha, and is the barrier between the desert and the Mediterranean region. With more than 20 million sheep, overgrazing is an important issue resulting in continued degradation of the natural resources (Nedjraoui and Bedrani 2008). Trials of the rehabilitation of these ecosystems were undertaken in a participatory process with farmers complemented by some detailed monitoring of the responses in experimental plots (Hammouda 2009; Bouchareb 2012). This study reports on some results of the ecological monitoring and evaluation for a participatory project, in the steppe of South Algiers, conducted by a multidisciplinary team.
La strada verso un progetto sostenibile
2016
Natural resources degradation for agricultural production and environmental protection has been a matter of concern forfuture food, nutrition, environment and livelihood security. As per current estimates, 120.7 million hectare (mha) is under degraded or wastelands. These lands provide ample opportunity for growing fodder trees and grasses to bridgethe gap between demand and supply of green and dry fodder.Several species of fodder trees and grasses have been identified and their agro-techniques standardized for raising in different categories of wastelands such as affected by soil and wind erosion, salinity, acidity and mining etc. A brief account of such plants is discussed in this paper. For example, Prosopis juliflora-Leptochloa fuscaagroforestry practice in highly sodic soil (pH >10.0) is found highly promising for fuel wood and forage production and also for bio-amelioration of high pH soils. The information in the present paper is discussed under the following sub heads: (1) nature, extent and distribution of degraded/wastelands in India, (2) suitable fodder trees, bushes and grasses, (3) agro-techniques for fodder production and agroforestry, (4) production potential and amelioration of wastelands by trees and grasses and (5) future research and policy issues.
Grassland rehabilitation through re-designing livestock management systems
2013
Grasslands are one of the most important land types supplying critical ecosystem services including feed for livestock grazing. They occupy ~54% of the world’s ice-free land surface. China contains the third largest area of grassland in the world, ~400 M ha, ~40% of China’s land surface. Chinese grasslands are severely degraded primarily due to overgrazing, which contributes to local poverty because of poor livestock production. To both recover the degraded grassland and to enhance the local herders’ income, a large farmscale experiment was conducted in a desert steppe of Inner Mongolia, China from 2007 to 2012. We used a baseline survey, production models, and extension with government and private companies to test a redesigned grassland livestock management system. The new system employed summer grazing, winter greenhouse shed feeding, a reduction of overall stocking rate, lambing in summer (July), livestock infrastructure structure improvements, use of animal nutrient supplements...
2021
The Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL), a multi-stakeholder partnership started in 2013 includes nine action networks (ANs). The networks are the working engine of GASL and are tasked with implementing activities, reports, providing evidence, guidelines and information on good practices demonstrated by the livestock sector. This paper outlines the activities of the network AN2 “Restoring Value to Grassland”, the purpose of which is to “maintain, restore and enhance environmental and economic value of grasslands, while promoting their social and cultural functions globally”. Since 2014, AN2 workshops have been held annually with scientists and stakeholders from rangeland/grassland biomes in Latin America (Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile), the Mediterranean (France, North Africa), Sub-Saharan Africa, Highland and Continental Plateaux (Tibetan Plateau/Mongolia/Atlas in Morocco), the mountainous regions of France, New Zealand and Vietnam, and the prairie area of Canada. A ...
2021
Human activities are driving wildlife population declines worldwide. However, empirical understandings of their operation and consequences for wildlife populations and habitats are limited. We explored relationships between empirical and perceived wildlife and livestock population trends in Kenya using data on i) aerial monitoring of wildlife and livestock populations during 1977-2018, ii) human population censuses; and iii) semi-structured interviews with 338 male and female respondents from 250 households from four zones of the Greater Maasai Mara Ecosystem in 2019 and 2020. Wildlife numbers declined by 72.3% but sheep and goats increased by 306.4%. Yet nearly 50% of the interviewees perceived increases in wildlife numbers during 2011-2020 but concurrent decreases in livestock numbers because wildlife compete with livestock for resources. About one third of the respondents perceived an increase in the number of people living within conservancies and around the reserve and consider...
Pre- and Post-Degradation Management of Rangelands: Implications for Sustainable Management
2021
Rangeland degradation directly affects livestock production, resulting in food insecurity and ecological instability. A shift in vegetation from grass to woody plants has severely affected cattle production in Ethiopian rangelands. Those grass species that are perceived by the pastoralists as highly palatable and desirable are currently decreasing in both quality and quantity. A reason for this decline has been claimed to be degradation owing to overgrazing and climate change. While appropriate management of livestock density in rangelands is essential for sustainable production and grassland ecosystem health, the management of dryland ecosystems is mired in controversy due to the complexity of the ecosystem. This region is categorized as a non-equilibrium environment, though at times it experiences equilibrium characteristics, which makes the management of the Borana rangelands highly complex. A better understanding of grass productivity and its controlling factors in modern savanna ecosystems could be a key to understanding the productivity of savannas and to predict responses to future climatic changes. The development of effective management strategies for responding to climatic variability is often impeded by the lack of a systematic framework for analyzing livestock stocking policies and management practices. Further, effective decision making requires an understanding of the important biotic and abiotic components of rangeland systems, such as the response of rangeland vegetation to environmental stressors: climatic change and herbivorous population dynamics. Previous vegetation studies of the Borana rangelands focused mainly on taxonomic descriptions and rangeland condition assessments. Reseeding of degraded rangelands is a potential management option in eastern African rangelands to enhance the resilience of rangelands. Therefore, it is high time to understand how the native perennial grass individuals respond to increased herbivory under higher drought frequency after reseeding.
Forage Quality Indices of Some Important Grass Species of Iranian Rangelands
2020
Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/22/1-10/25 The 22nd International Grassland Congress (Revitalising Grasslands to Sustain Our Communities) took place in Sydney, Australia from September 15 through September 19, 2013. Proceedings Editors: David L. Michalk, Geoffrey D. Millar, Warwick B. Badgery, and Kim M. Broadfoot Publisher: New South Wales Department of Primary Industry, Kite St., Orange New South Wales, Australia
2020
Assessment of grazing-induced degradation of arid and semi-arid rangelands with stochastic rainfall regimes is challenging. For the last two decades, rangeland ecologists have been discussing the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors in controlling vegetation dynamics. According to the non-equilibrium concept, which emerged as a new paradigm to describe ecosystems in highly variable and poorly predictable environments, vegetation dynamics are driven primarily by abiotic factors such as rainfall, rather than by internal biotic regulation (e.g. grazing impact). Although a number of studies have emphasized the nonequilibrium nature of most rangelands, they have produced inconsistent results and there is still no consensus on the relative importance of grazing impact. Alternatively, recent studies have suggested that a continuum of systems exists, rather than a stark dichotomy between equilibrium and nonequilibrium rangelands. Moreover, theoretical studies have predicted tha...